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ITF appoints Conchita Martínez as tournament director for Billie Jean King Cup finals

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez was named tournament director for the Billie Jean King Cup finals on Thursday.Twelve national teams will play in Seville during the finals from Nov. 7-12 in what is the 60th year of the competition formerly known as the Fed Cup.The International Tennis Federation announced the appointment of Martínez at a news conference in London.Martínez won Wimbledon in 1994 and helped Spain win five Fed Cups during the 1990s. She was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.“I know today’s generation of players take as much pride in playing for their nations as I did, and I am excited to see that passion on show in Seville in November,” the 51-year-old Martínez said in the ITF announcement.___AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

FTC appeals judge’s ruling that would allow Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard takeover

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

The Federal Trade Commission says it it appealing a judge’s ruling that would have allowed Microsoft to close its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard.A Wednesday court filing from the FTC says it is appealing it to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.Antitrust enforcers at the FTC have been trying to stop Microsoft’s $68.7 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard, maker of popular game franchises like Call of Duty, arguing it will harm competition in the video game industry.But in a Tuesday ruling, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC’s request to block the deal from closing. She said the FTC hadn’t shown that the merger would cause serious harm and was unlikely to prevail if it took the case to a full trial.Microsoft had promised to pay Activision Blizzard a $3 billion breakup fee if it can’t close the deal by Tuesday, which will mark 18 months since it was announced. But both companie...

Rockies to play series in Mexico next year

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Colorado Rockies are going international for a series against the Houston Astros next season.The team announced that at the end of April 2024, players will travel to Mexico City for two games.These games will be played on April 27 and April 28.This is one of four international trips for MLB teams in 2024. Rockies’ Elias Díaz becomes unlikely All-Star MVP, 3 1/2 years after cut loose by Pirates During spring training, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will play two games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on March 9 and March 10, 2024.Later that month, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will open the regular season in Seoul, South Korea on March 20 and March 21, 2024.The final international series will take place in London on June 8 and June 9, 2024 when the New York Mets play the Philadelphia Phillies.The Rockies have played several international exhibition games recently, but their last official game was on opening day in 1999 against the Padr...

No fingerprints, DNA sample or leads from cocaine found at the White House, the Secret Service says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — No fingerprints or DNA turned up on the baggie of cocaine found in a lobby at the White House last week despite a sophisticated FBI crime lab analysis, and surveillance footage of the area didn’t identify a suspect, according to a summary of the Secret Service investigation obtained by The Associated Press. There are no leads on who brought the drugs into the building.U.S. Secret Service agents found the white powder during a routine White House sweep on July 2, in a heavily trafficked West Wing lobby where staff go in and out and tour groups gather to drop their phones and other belongings.“Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,” Secret Service officials said in the summary.The presence of cocaine at the White House prompted a flurry of criticism and questions from Republicans, who requested a bri...

Group of friends shatter state record by capturing Florida’s longest python

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

(CNN) — A group of friends in Florida has made history by capturing the longest python ever measured in the state. This remarkable feat becomes even more astonishing as some of the individuals had never gone python hunting before.The record-breaking python, measuring 19 feet in length and weighing 125 pounds, was wrestled to the ground by the intrepid hunters in a captivating showdown. The news of this feat reached Ana Waleri, the mother of one of the hunters, through a text message from her son in the middle of the night. The message included a picture of the friends triumphantly posing with the massive snake draped across their shoulders. However, it was the video she received the next morning that truly left her in awe. The footage showed her son, Jake, bravely throwing himself at the python, capturing it single-handedly.Jake Waleri, one of the amateur hunters, described the challenging encounter. “We were getting ourselves into a fight that was a little bit trickier than w...

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy disciplined for allegedly punching mother holding newborn during traffic stop

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

PALMDALE, Calif. (WSVN) — A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy has been disciplined after being accused of punching a mother while she was holding her newborn during a traffic stop in Palmdale, California. The incident, which took place last July, was captured on bodycam video recently released by the Sheriff’s office.The disturbing footage showed the arrests of two mothers, both cradling their babies, following the traffic stop, but it was during one particular arrest that a deputy can be seen throwing punches. The incident unfolded when deputies pulled over a vehicle driven by a man with four women, three of whom were holding infants. The driver was stopped for not having his lights on, and upon inspection, it was discovered that the infants were not secured in car seats. As a result, the women were arrested on charges of child endangerment.The bodycam video revealed a moment during the second arrest, in which a woman was holding her 3-week-old baby when the deputy al...

NATO summit wrap-up and the EU’s battle over biodiversity

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast This week, we bring you the latest from Vilnius as NATO leaders wrap up a crucial meeting of the defense alliance, plus all the news from Strasbourg as MEPs clash over an EU proposal to protect biodiversity...

Top Dutch minister steps down from party leadership over ‘intimidation’ and ‘threats’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag said Thursday she would not lead her liberal Democrats 66 (D66) party into the next election in the fall, citing the toll on her family after she faced multiple intimidation attempts.“I have decided not to run for the position of leader of the party,” Kaag said in a statement. “For me, in addition to love and appreciation, the past period was also accompanied by hate, intimidation and threats. That put a heavy burden on my family.” She added that “a new period of taking responsibility” would make things worse for them. Kaag, the first female finance minister in the Netherlands’ history, faced repeated threats over the past 18 months. In January 2022, a man who stood outside her home, shouting and waving a burning torch, was handed a six-month prison sentence by a Hague court.Last February, Kaag was confronted by farmers holding flaming torches at a campaign event. Kaag’s D66 party has been a...

Mass brawl breaks out in Kosovo parliament over Pinocchio picture and water toss

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

A brawl erupted in the Kosovo parliament Thursday after an opposition lawmaker threw water from a bottle on Prime Minister Albin Kurti during a speech.In video footage from the incident, a member of parliament can be seen walking up to Kurti, water bottle in hand, while the prime minister is addressing the room from the podium.The MP, identified as Mergim Lushtaku from the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo by local media, goes on to splash water in Kurti’s face and that of his deputy, Besnik Beslimi, triggering a brawl as ministers and other MPs jumped in to restrain Lushtaku.According to local news website Kallxo, the row began after opposition MPs placed a picture showing the prime minister with an elongated, Pinocchio-like nose in front of the podium before Kurti’s speech. Beslimi had removed and torn up the picture while Kurti was speaking.Local media reported that Kurti was escorted out of the hall.The cause of the latest disagreement is the episodes of violence...

Germany blasts China on human rights, but shies away from economic restrictions

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:23:13 GMT

BERLIN — Germany on Thursday released its first China strategy, accusing Beijing of “grave violations of human rights” but taking a softer line on economic measures like investment bans.The 64-page document — which can be read here in German and here in a slightly shorter version in English — calls China an indispensable partner but, increasingly, also a rival and competitor.“Without China, we will not succeed in curbing the climate crisis, nor in achieving more fair prosperity in the world,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said as she presented the strategy at the MERICS China think tank in Berlin.However, Baerbock also raised the need “to protect our European economy against unfair competition” from China, making an indirect reference to Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” industrial strategy and massive state subsidies for key sectors like electric vehicles. The strategy describes such unfair practices as a “threat” to Germany’s “security, ...